Jaxson: You know I'm getting sick of reading stories like this, where companies are basically releasing these products to market and then letting that same market do half of their commissioning/testing work for them.

Far too many of these boxes (not just this brand) have very similar problems with recording, to the point that you wonder if they really tested all this properly in the first place. It seems to be the usb connected drives that give problems every time, with only some working with a particular hardware combination etc.

It really is looking like you're better to stick with the brand names, but in freeview satellite terms there really isn't any real brand name like sony/panasonic/samsung etc, they're just not in that field. In terrestrial terms everything is very expensive from a big player brand, and incorperates a bluray player as well. Maybe things will change when the analogue DVD/HDD units become basically redundant after the analogue switch off?

I think it boils down to the price that users are willing to pay. These items are dirt cheap compared to other more expensive brands, so you get what you pay for.

I am however quiet prepared to do the odd bit of testing. I paid peanuts for the unit therefore can I expect the thing to be 100% bug free when I receive it?

Yes there were some major issues at first which now seem to be addressed, try getting such customer service with some of the bigger companies! At least DishTV is looking at our issues, gets back to us and shows a bit of interest in resolving our problems. With some of the bog corps these days it can take weeks to just get acknowledgement of a problem, longer still because your call is routed to the Philippines or India and the agent does not even understand the new Zealand language accent, the product or both.

I know this is a thread about another product. But I paid what I feel is a reasonable amount for a certain DVB-T/S combo USB PVR. It has USB recording issues that won't be fixed now. Getting what you pay for is not always the case.

grolschie: I know this is a thread about another product. But I paid what I feel is a reasonable amount for a certain DVB-T/S combo USB PVR. It has USB recording issues that won't be fixed now. Getting what you pay for is not always the case.

Well if the unit is advertised at doing something, and it does not. Then is probably an issue for the Com Com.

Dont just sit back and be unhappy with what you got!

If the issues with this unit were not currently being addressed by DishTV (Slow progress yes), I would have already have gotten a refund or simply just reported them for false advertising.

I have to disagree, $200 isn`t cheap. You can get freeview recievers in other markets for $50 and freeview recorders for $240.Even if it is cheap it doesnt mean it shouldn`t be fit for purpose.Maybe not perfect but at least capable?I dont care where the retailer sets his price thats up to him , but I do expect his junk to work as stated on the box.

I too am very disappointed, I got my money back but am still left with an antenna pointing nowhere useful and a usb hardrive I didnt need to buy. Such is life....

I have to disagree, $200 isn`t cheap. You can get freeview recievers in other markets for $50 and freeview recorders for $240.Even if it is cheap it doesnt mean it shouldn`t be fit for purpose.Maybe not perfect but at least capable?I dont care where the retailer sets his price thats up to him , but I do expect his junk to work as stated on the box.

I too am very disappointed, I got my money back but am still left with an antenna pointing nowhere useful and a usb hardrive I didnt need to buy. Such is life....

I paid $160 for mine, I think it was even cheaper than that at some places if you shopped around! Back then it was not being sold as a PVR but just a standard receiver. The price seems to have gone up recently - probably due to the costs associated with fixing the PVR defects.

That said, I would not pay $200 for it in its current state with the current bugs that have not yet been fixed.

Personally, I have learned numerous times in my life, that the cheapest option is seldom the best. $140 for a Freeview STB with PVR capability - wow! But hang on, for those who haven't learned a life lesson or two yet, listen up.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you want a cheap, buggy Freeview STB with tacked on PVR functionality... and only want to spend $140-$160, then meh... stop complaining. Odds on something will go wrong - we all know it. You can come up with all the 'commerce commission should get involved' or 'consumer guarantees act says this / that' stuff. And you may get a refund. Mint. BUT, you've just wasted a heap of your time trying to get it to work / remedied. Whereas I think it's better to stop and think... 'hey way a minute, maybe I should just stop looking at cheap crap and stump up for the Panasonic unit'.

It looks like there's a double-tuner MyFreeview|HD version of this model coming called the "DishTV Aerialbox Ultra". Harvey Norman lists it in their latest advertorial for $429 with 500gb HDD. HN made a pre-release announcement by mistake?

this is obviously a small NZ company adapting overseas products into STBs so that they work with our Freeview setup here. as soon as i saw the optional PVR functionality with external USB drive i knew it would involve a bit of fiddling. so i bought mine 2nd hand for $80, i've enjoyed the fiddles, and my other half is happy because she can do the mysky stuff - one touch recording, time shift, series link.

quite happy to help them iron out the bugs considering that for most of the things we use it for, it functions quite well. Just don't buy one for your blonde girlfriend or your granny.

p.s. i couldn't be bothered switching back to 9th June firmware, and the beta thing doesn't have anymore of those big visual scramble "glitches", just the audio-video playback sync after 35mn. Pause - Play and its back in sync. no big deal.

bfginger: It looks like there's a double-tuner MyFreeview|HD version of this model coming called the "DishTV Aerialbox Ultra". Harvey Norman lists it in their latest advertorial for $429 with 500gb HDD. HN made a pre-release announcement by mistake?

This is interesting, the DishTV website does not have information about this product. Maybe it is worthwhile to go to a HN shop and see whether they have stock available.

Dunnersfella: Personally, I have learned numerous times in my life, that the cheapest option is seldom the best. $140 for a Freeview STB with PVR capability - wow! But hang on, for those who haven't learned a life lesson or two yet, listen up.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you want a cheap, buggy Freeview STB with tacked on PVR functionality... and only want to spend $140-$160, then meh... stop complaining. Odds on something will go wrong - we all know it. You can come up with all the 'commerce commission should get involved' or 'consumer guarantees act says this / that' stuff. And you may get a refund. Mint. BUT, you've just wasted a heap of your time trying to get it to work / remedied. Whereas I think it's better to stop and think... 'hey way a minute, maybe I should just stop looking at cheap crap and stump up for the Panasonic unit'.

My $0.02.

Yeah, but it doesn`t always work that way. I personally have stumped up for a $36,000 Mercedes (12 months old, when bought), I am much better pleased with my 15 year old Nissan ($9,000 (10 yrs old, when bought). The Merc, was a nightmare / moneypit / crap experience.

You seem to be saying that we should accept mediocrity because its cheap.

I would argue that we should expect excellence at a reasonable price.

I don`t expect budget airlines to have mediocre safety standards, because they are cheap.I don`t expect consumer electronics/commodities to be crap because they are cheap, (Consumer electronics have always been cheap to produce.?25 (circa 1983)for aC64)

And neither do 60 million British with their ?25 Freeview decoders or 20 million Ozzys with their $50 decoders.(www.dixons.co.uk/www.dse.com.au)

I expect my $200 Freeview box to be first class at that price, because Panasonic or Mercedes aint always that hot either.

Bye the bye where is this T1020 available for $140?

Allan

Given up editing, my Keyboard map is stuffed.Question marks should be Pound signs. :-)

Dunnersfella: Personally, I have learned numerous times in my life, that the cheapest option is seldom the best. $140 for a Freeview STB with PVR capability - wow! But hang on, for those who haven't learned a life lesson or two yet, listen up.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you want a cheap, buggy Freeview STB with tacked on PVR functionality... and only want to spend $140-$160, then meh... stop complaining. Odds on something will go wrong - we all know it. You can come up with all the 'commerce commission should get involved' or 'consumer guarantees act says this / that' stuff. And you may get a refund. Mint. BUT, you've just wasted a heap of your time trying to get it to work / remedied. Whereas I think it's better to stop and think... 'hey way a minute, maybe I should just stop looking at cheap crap and stump up for the Panasonic unit'.

My $0.02.

Yeah, but it doesn`t always work that way. I personally have stumped up for a $36,000 Mercedes (12 months old, when bought), I am much better pleased with my 15 year old Nissan ($9,000 (10 yrs old, when bought). The Merc, was a nightmare / moneypit / crap experience.

You seem to be saying that we should accept mediocrity because its cheap.

I would argue that we should expect excellence at a reasonable price.

I don`t expect budget airlines to have mediocre safety standards, because they are cheap.I don`t expect consumer electronics/commodities to be crap because they are cheap, (Consumer electronics have always been cheap to produce.?25 (circa 1983)for aC64)

And neither do 60 million British with their ?25 Freeview decoders or 20 million Ozzys with their $50 decoders.(www.dixons.co.uk/www.dse.com.au)

I expect my $200 Freeview box to be first class at that price, because Panasonic or Mercedes aint always that hot either.

Bye the bye where is this T1020 available for $140?

Allan

Given up editing, my Keyboard map is stuffed.Question marks should be Pound signs. :-)

In life, there are no hard and fast rules - but in my experience, the rules of averages tells me that spending a little more seems to work out for the better.Your experiences are different... I however, would argue that anyone buying a Mercedes should be ready for disappointment. I thought everyone knew that? ;-)